From: "Why Zane Lowe and Apple Music are betting on live radio in an on-demand era"
"Los Angeles Times": shorturl.at/C1kEJ
Makes me crazy when the mainstream media gets it wrong. But is anybody even reading the "L.A. Times" anymore, whose fire coverage was eclipsed by the NEW YORK "Times" and was equaled by the "Washington Post," which hemorrhaged subscribers and writers in the wake of Bezos's refusal to endorse a presidential candidate in the election. Turns out actions have consequences. People hated Mark Zuckerberg before he eliminated fact-checking on Facebook, now he's a veritable PARIAH! But what do you expect from a college dropout nincompoop who's got a lot more money than sense, irrelevant of whether he's a coding wizard.
Actually, the tech story of the day is Sam Harris's Substack post:
"The Trouble with Elon": rb.gy/ij51tj
Be sure to read this. We've got this impression that money is everything, and that if you're rich you know everything about everything and your judgment is incontestable. But what the non-rich people don't understand is the power of the individual and the power of the pen. One person can make a difference. Hell, I could spew against Trump ad infinitum, but this imminent Israel/Gaza ceasefire never would have happened if he didn't threaten Hamas.
And Musk has gained power because he now has his own press outlet, in a flattened world where what is online holds equal weight to what is in the traditional media. And the bias is insane. The best thing I saw regarding this was:
"Bill Burr on People Online Commenting on the LA Fires & Getting in Touch with His Emotions"
YouTube: rb.gy/tkc40y
You don't want to be a rock star, you want to be a COMEDIAN! There's much more money in it if you're successful. No trucks, maybe just a road manager and a microphone. Sure, there are no brand extensions, but that's because you're selling your truth, what rock stars used to do in the good old days. If you want to know which way the wind blows, listen to a comedian. Speaking of which, you must watch this Instagram clip:
rb.gy/hq7nxk
Yes, another comedian on Instagram speaking the truth.
So I'm good with Zane Lowe, not that we know each other well, but I can't find one person who listens to Apple Music Radio. And Zane admits in this article who he is. He's a tool of the industrial hype machine, he doesn't ask the hard questions and is blindly positive, regarding Katy Perry...
"he told her the new music was 'such a gift' and that she'd reclaimed her role as 'the Katy Perry that everybody loves'"
There's a business in this, at least for Zane, all that Apple remuneration/stock has made him rich. It's no different from the way it used to be, all false in an era where the public hungers for the truth, no different from the way it's been in the major music business from time immemorial.
And I can't believe the number of people still bitching about the major labels. Sure, they have undue weight in negotiation, because of their catalogs, but when it comes to new music... How long until some monied person buys one of the big three outfits and excises new music production entirely, the costs are so high and the returns are so bad.
And the major labels only sign a few acts in a few genres, mostly ones you're not making music in, and you can get a better deal going direct to Spotify, et al. As for promotion, you can't get on Apple Radio, but if anybody was listening Katy Perry's last project would have been successful, and it was a stiff. And all the traditional major label tools mean almost nothing today...terrestrial radio, network TV, print... The majors are paper tigers, always outmaneuvered by indies, now more than ever, the smaller, more nimble players are eating up market share.
But when the hoi polloi are not bitching about the majors, they can't stop complaining about Spotify. The biggest and most innovative streamer out there. Maybe because unlike their big competitors they can't depend upon other income streams to support the effort. Spotify is not selling computers or shipping detergent, and Spotify is so good that it has the largest number of subscribers.
So why does Apple pay more per stream?
IT DOESN'T!!!
First and foremost none of these outlets pay per stream, NONE OF THEM! They collect a barrel of money, and split it up based on listens. And the more people listen, the fewer each stream is worth monetarily. (Really, you should watch the Instagram clip above if you don't get this, it's about MATH, which is inherently immutable.)
So there is no per stream payment, nada, doesn't exist. But a stream is worth more on Apple Music than it is on Spotify because...Apple Music subscribers LISTEN LESS!
Let me try to explain this. I'll make it simple. If there was only one subscriber to Apple Music and that person paid $10 per month and only listened to a single track in a month, only one, that listen would be worth...TEN DOLLARS! (Well, not really, because in truth Apple, et al, keep 30-40% of the revenues for costs...and don't bitch about this, streaming music is a terrible business, because it doesn't scale, costs go up proportionately with revenue, i.e. these outlets continue to have to pay royalties.)
So let's say that one subscriber pays for Spotify instead of Apple Music and listens to ten tracks in a month. Each listen would be worth ONE DOLLAR! (Minus the costs, but you get it...)
So, the more active the listener, the less the payment per stream.
Spotify is where the active listeners are. Not only do they subscribe, but they listen more! And therefore, each stream is worth less monetarily.
So, you'd rather be on Spotify...you want people to listen to your music many times, that's how your career breaks. And streaming music is only a sliver of the pie... There's live, merch, other financial opportunities.
Forget that most people never would have been able to put out music in the pre-internet era, it was too expensive to make and if you could get it distributed at retail, almost an impossibility if you weren't aligned with a major, you couldn't get paid.
I'm not going to go into detail about the history of music distribution, but I will say these are the good old days. If your music is streamed a lot, you're making a fortune. And if it's not... Wait a minute, you should be paid if no one is listening?
People hate when I take the side of the corporation. I can't ever defend Ticketmaster or Spotify...not that these are perfect companies, but most of the complaints against them are unfounded. Ticketmaster does not keep all the fees, only a sliver. And Spotify gives most of the revenue to rights holders.
But you're unsuccessful. Sorry. We're all struggling. It's every person for themselves these days. And there may not be a great safety net, but there are tons of ways to make money. Rick Beato makes more money with his videos than almost any artist in the business. And as many people who know him...many do not. Welcome to reality.
Which seems to elude the "Los Angeles Times," but hopefully not you.
You can make it, but that does not mean people will listen to it, just like Apple Music Radio!!!
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